condition. They have lain open to the assaults of man and of the tearing-
desert wind, which is laden with sand, since they were opened more than
fifteen years ago. The continual friction of the driven sand has worn away
much of the colouring and utterly ruined the appearance of the frescoes
in the latter, while the exquisite moulded plaster work in the former is
dropping off in every direction. These two tombs, two of the finest
monuments of the period in Egypt, have been ruined. The Depart-
ment of Antiquities is at last going to furnish Pepiankh's chapel with
a door; since the roof is intact and the entrance very small, it has
suffered little except from bats. For the other tombs which are roofless
and immeasurably finer, nothing is at present being done. We hope
therefore that the " Survey" will receive plenty of support in order that
these valuable monuments may be recorded before it is too late. Even a
year's delay may prove fatal!

Aylwaed M. Blackman.

C—GRAECO-ROMAN BRANCH.

Work was recommenced at Atfieh on January 15th, and the limits of
the previous year's excavations were quickly extended. The results
were much what had been anticipated. The Ptolemaic graves found served
only to emphasize the conclusions gained in 1911; their occurrence,
however, became less and less frequent, while graves of other periods,
chiefly earlier, showed a corresponding increase. The ground to the
south, of which I had had some hopes, was decidedly damp and, after
trial, was abandoned. I felt now that, so far as the Graeco-Eoman period
was concerned, the site had been given its due. To the useful cartonnage
obtained last year a small amount had been added, but the low
percentage of papyrus found undecayed and the growing infrequency of
the Ptolemaic graves gave little hope of further success commensurate
with the labour and expense involved. Added to this was the fact that
the extensive and arduous work which we had planned on the western
desert south of Behnesa was obviously not of a kind to be lightly
undertaken at the end of a season.

On the 31st, therefore, we moved from Atfieh, and at sundown on the
following day a temporary camp was pitched at the first point of western
desert touched near the modern village of Shusha in Markaz Samallut.
At daybreak on the following day we struck northwards and camped